Programme

Financial institutions across the globe are undergoing a dual transformation. Mounting geoeconomic fragmentation along with disruptive innovation combined with shifts in the geopolitical landscape, and new social and economic challenges have formed an imminent request for reinventing the present-day global financial system, including tailoring it to evolving realities and concerns of the Global South, which is firmly on the rise. On the other hand, contribution of banks and financial institutions remains crucial for successful implementation of domestic development strategies and sustainability goals. The financial sector creates toolkits essential to solving key practical tasks. It also acts as a driving force for major agenda issues for both economy and society – be it infrastructure, technology, climate, etc. Furthermore, a full-scale unlocking of emerging markets’ financial potential, including that of the newly established international and national development institutions would add much to putting global growth on a stronger footing. What changes in the financial sector of Russia and other EM countries are considered most acute today to accelerate the pace of development of national economies? The global financial system is currently facing many challenges. What needs to be fixed? Where do we start? What needs to be done to make the financial sector of the Global South ever more instrumental for achieving strategic development goals?

Moderator
Andrey Kostin, President and Chairman of the Management Board, VTB Bank

Andrey Kostin

President and Chairman of the Management Board, VTB Bank

Andrey Kostin was born in Moscow in 1956. He educated Moscow State University in 1979 (major - teaching political economy), PhD in Economics.
He was at diplomatic service at the USSR Consulate General in Australia (1979-1982) and Embassy to the UK (1985-1990). In 1993 – 1995 he was Deputy Head of Foreign Investment Department of Imperial Bank. In 1995 he was elected First Deputy Chairman of National Reserve Bank. In 1996 he was appointed Chairman by presidential executive order of Vnesheconombank, in 1999 his term in office was extended for another three years. Since 2002 - President and Chairman of the Management Board, Member of the Supervisory Council of VTB Bank.
He has Order of the Russian Orthodox Church of St. Seraphim, 2nd class, Orders For Merit to the Fatherland (2nd, 3rd and 4th classes), Order of Honour, Order of Merit (France), Presidential Letter of Appreciation and Presidential Certificate of Honour, Certificates of Appreciation from the Government of the Russian Federation, Presidential Certificate of Honour, Letter of Gratitude of the Russian Government, Russian Government Certificates of Honour.

Panellists
Abdullah Bin Touq Al Marri, Minister of Economy of the United Arab Emirates
Qais bin Mohammed bin Moosa Al Yousef, Minister of Commerce, Industry and Investment Promotion of the Sultanate of Oman
Alexander Novak, Deputy Prime Minister of the Russian Federation
Fethi Zouhair Nouri, Governor, Central Bank of Tunisia
Calixto Jose Ortega Sanchez, President, Central Bank of Venezuela
Nenad Popovic, Minister Without Portfolio, Government of the Republic of Serbia
Anton Siluanov, Minister of Finance of the Russian Federation
Hala Helmy El-Said, Minister of Planning and Economic Development of the Arab Republic of Egypt

Abdullah Bin Touq Al Marri

Minister of Economy of the United Arab Emirates

Qais bin Mohammed bin Moosa Al Yousef

Minister of Commerce, Industry and Investment Promotion of the Sultanate of Oman

Calixto Jose Ortega Sanchez

President, Central Bank of Venezuela

Nenad Popovic

Minister Without Portfolio, Government of the Republic of Serbia

Nenad Popović was born in Tuzla (Bosnia and Herzegovina) in 1966. In 1991, he graduated from the University of Belgrade.
He started his own business as he had successful experience as an employee of leading Western companies. In 1994, he founded a company, which later became an electric power holding company that employs over 3,000 people. He is currently the owner and president of ABS Electro. The company’s enterprises have been in business for more than half a century and they have always been and still are the leading ones in the field. In 2016, the company’s annual turnover exceeded RUB 10 bln. Its production facilities are located in Cheboksary and Saint Petersburg, and its Head Office is in Moscow.
In 2014, Nenad Popović founded the Serbian People’s Party (SNP), which is focused on political and economic rapprochement with Russia. In March 2014, as Vice-President of the National Assembly of the Republic of Serbia, he was the head international observer of the electoral process in a referendum on the status of Crimea. He was awarded the Order of Friendship for contribution to the development of economic and social relationships between Serbia and Russia; the decree was signed by the President of the Russian Federation in 2010.
In 2002, Nenad Popović established ABS Slavyanskiy charitable foundation. Since then, the foundation is vigorous in helping those in need. It implements child support programs, develops and carries out projects in the fields of culture, science, education, sports, and healthcare. Since its establishment, the foundation has organized a lot of events involving cultural professionals, music groups, artists, athletes, and journalists. It also carried out projects so patients could receive medical treatment from the leading Russian physicians. There are educational and other fundraisers to support orphaned children in Russia in Serbia being organized on a regular basis.
Since 2003, Nenad Popović has been teaching at the Department of Economy of Foreign Countries and International Economic Relations of the Faculty of Economics of Lomonosov Moscow State University. Since 2001, he has been Professor at the Department of Economics and Mining Operations Planning of the Moscow State Mining University. Years of his academic activity resulted in 90 scientific papers on economics and regional development and 7 books.

Anton Siluanov

Minister of Finance of the Russian Federation

Born April 12, 1963 in Moscow.

1985: Graduated from the Moscow Finance Institute with a degree in finance and credit.
August 1985 – March 1987: Economist, senior economist at the Finance Ministry of the RSFSR.
March 1987 – May 1989: Served in the Soviet Army.
May 1989 – January 1992: Chief economist, first rank economist, chief economist, sub-department deputy head and adviser at the Finance Ministry of the RSFSR.
February 1992: Department deputy head at the Economy and Finance Ministry of the Russian Federation.
February 1992 – October 1997: Department deputy head at the Budget Board, division head and deputy head of the Budget Department, and deputy head of the Budget Department at the Finance Ministry.
October 1997 – July 2003: Head of the Department for Macroeconomic Policy and Banking. Since March 22, 2001 has been member of the board of the Finance Ministry.
July 2003 – May 2004: Deputy finance minister.
May 2004 – December 2005: Director of the Department for Intergovernmental Fiscal Relations at the Finance Ministry.
May 2005 – September 2011: Deputy finance minister.
Sept. 27, 2011: Appointed acting finance minister.
December 16, 2011: Minister of Finance.
May 21, 2012: Reappointed Minister of Finance of the Russian Federation by Presidential Executive Order.

Hala Helmy El-Said

Minister of Planning and Economic Development of the Arab Republic of Egypt

Dr. Hala H. Elsaid was sworn in as Egypt’s Minister of Planning and Economic Development on December 22, 2019. Prior to this appointment, she served as the Minister of Planning, Monitoring and Administrative Reform between February 2017 and December 2019. Dr. Elsaid who also serves as Chair of The Sovereign Fund of Egypt is a prominent Economist and Academic Figure, recognized as the Best Arab Minister by the Arab Government Excellence Award in November 2020.
During her tenor, she led the implementation of the National Sustainable Development Strategy (Egypt Vision 2030) in partnership with bilateral and multilateral stakeholders, private sector and civil society in line with the UN Sustainable Development Strategy and the Africa 2063 Agenda. In 2021, Dr. Elsaid initiated the National Structural Reform Program with macro-sectoral reforms focusing on seven priority sectors that are labor intensive and have significant contribution in achieving economic growth and prosperity, supporting the transition to a green and circular economy. As Minister of Planning and Economic Development, she launched several programs for capacity building, gender inclusion and youth empowerment including the Women in Leadership Positions Program, the Leadership for Government Excellence Program and Rowad 2030 which aims to enable youth and support entrepreneurship and job creation.
She encourages the effective monitoring and evaluation of all policies and initiatives taking place to promote sustainable development through the development of policy trackers linked to the Sustainable Development Goals and the adoption of the National Strategy for Development of Statistics, to ensure administrative decisions are evidence based. In addition, she launched several academic contributions that include a wide range of internationally acclaimed research papers, studies and reports on various economic topics, most notably studies on financial and banking reform, international finance, privatization and economic reform, including the first Financing Sustainable Development in Egypt report, the first of its kind FfD report and a manual for Gender-Responsive Sustainable Development Planning.
Dr. Hala El-Said is a prominent female banking figure, serving as a member of the Central Bank's Board of Directors and as the Executive Director of the Egyptian Banking Institute for eight consecutive years, managing the Institute with a promising vision to establish a professional training arm for the Egyptian banking system that applies international best practices in the development of technical and administrative skills for financial and banking professionals in Egypt and the Middle East and North Africa. During this period, she led a group of experts and consultants at the Institute to obtain international accreditation to become the first accredited banking and financial training institute in Egypt and the Middle East and North Africa region (2006 -2008).
Dr. Elsaid has also held several positions, including Advisor to the Governor of the Central Bank of Egypt, a Member of the Board of Trustees of the Central Bank's Anti-Money Laundering Unit, and a Member of the Board of Directors of the Arab African International Bank.
Dr. ElSaid received her PhD in Economics in 1989 with Highest Honors from the Faculty of Economics and Political Science, Cairo University. She was the first elected Dean of the Faculty of Economics and Political Science in 2011 and Cairo University’s Deputy President for Scientific Research and Exterior Relations from 2013 to 2016. Over her efficacious academic journey, her contributions in education, inclusion and youth empowerment pave the way to achieving sustainable development and economic growth.